Lasting Love
by XxXMayhemXxX
Summary: Yuki reflects on his stolen happiness, and the death of his beloved. Character Death. Kyo remembers someone who can no longer remember him. Hatori gets revenge for the cursed family.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: In no way do I own Fruits Basket.

Warnings: Character Death, Angst, Shounen –ai, Implied yaoi if you're looking for it.

Notes: This is a fic that I'm reposting under Mayhem's Angel, and is the only one that is being beta'd because it has a third chapter now. Many thanks to Masqued for all the corrections. POV changes with the X's.

This was originally inspired by one of the early volumes of Furuba when Haru says that he's loved Yuki since he was young. I thought it was cute. LOL. I don't think that any more.

**Lasting Love**

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The silver haired boy clutched onto the lifeless form of his lover, sobbing uncontrollably.His body slowly began to rock back and forth, face full of disdain. Hot, wet tears seared down the thin pale face, dropping slowly onto the still visage of the other teen.

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Why?

_Why?_

Why does he always do this? Couldn't he let me enjoy my happiness? Is there truly nothing in his heart that shows contempt for the cursed, such as myself, or is his goal simply to further my feeling of loneliness?There is no end to the pain, suffering, and hurt that he inflicts on us and the ones we love. And for years I've asked myself the question as to why, _why_, he would treat everyone with such a cold boldness.

Because _he_ can never be happy.

I hugged the unmoving body of Haru to my chest, desperately wishing he would awaken from his deadly sleep. It was my fault that Haru was no longer with me on this earth; he had loved me since we were young. He accepted me for the way I was, _what_ I was, and could understand that what Akito had done to me had deeply affected me, leaving scars on my very soul. Still he loved, adored and cared for me, patiently awaiting the day I would be able to return those same feelings.

I had finally found the courage to admit my feelings for him to his face, no longer hiding behind my cold, indifferent masks; no longer fooling myself into believing that I felt nothing for my beloved ox. I'd finally realized that I was deserving of the love and affection, and was fully capable of returning it. And look what that brought us.

Everything had been sunshine and rainbows at first; a beauty I'd never thought imaginable for someone such as myself. Being with Haru was like nothing else I had ever experienced; it left me happy beyond all reason, making it quite simple to outwardly tell him that I loved him the same as he did I. All the cursed relationships start like that though - and they all ended in pain and suffering. Of course all the sunshine and rainbows scurried off and cowered the moment we found out that we would have to tell Akito that we were together. And even worse…

That we were _happy. _

And we all know that no one – especially me – can ever be happy if Akito can't be.

XXXXX

An evil, maniacal laugh rang out through the room where the boy lingered with the body of his true love lifeless in his heavy arms, the spirit long since gone.  
The rat looked up at the sharp sound that assaulted his ears. A dark haired man stood there, the blood that he had drawn from the corpse dripping from his knuckles, dripping bitterly to the tiled floor.

"You fool. How could you even think that I would let you be with him? He didn't deserve your love, your happiness, or you, because _you _don't deserve to be happy. You're just worthless; no one would ever want you." He began to laugh again, finding a twisted hilarity in the woe of others.

XXXXX

Feared and Revered - That is how the head of the Sohma family is looked at. Like God almost, or rather in this instance, Satan. It's as though he's immortal and won't ever die simply because that would imply that he would no longer be able to be a tyrant that ruined our cursed lives. He is uncontrollable **-** unstoppable. Hatori has tried multiple times to end his torture of everyone's lives, desperately trying to prevent anyone from going through what he'd had to experience. Shigure also tried, but for reasons unknown. Sadly, neither was successful, leaving me clinging to my dead lover.

I heard his laughter. Softly at first, then growing with the force of the insanity behind it. It couldn't be described any other way. Akito was insane, there was no way of denying it– and none of us ever tried to do so. Others did not do things like this to their family members. And how I longed to be one of those other families as I looked up. Immediately after doing so, I regretted it.

Haru's blood still dripped from his hands. This time, Akito had thought it was extra special to be able to hurt me as much as he could – and therefore had literally gotten his hands bloody, instead commanding his minions to do the dirty work.

I watched the blood fall onto the cold marble, and winced as it joined the rest of the remains of Haru's life force. As my eyes averted from the dripping blood and back to my beloved – whose blood was flowing crimsons streams – his words resonated in my head.

He was wrong. Haru did deserve my love and happiness; he was the only person I could ever have been happy with. My mind flickered back to when I had believed Akito when he constantly called me worthless, but Haru had changed that for me.

Haru - who had shown me that I wasn't worthless, and that I deserved his love as much as he deserved mine. He convinced me every time he had awoken to my screams and calmed me down from the haunting memories by taking me into his arms, kissing me, and whispering "I love you," in my ear to soothe my nerves. He was the best at accepting me the way I am, no matter how tarnished my past was.

Without him, it was going to be a struggle to trust in his words, but I knew that he would be watching over me and telling me that I was worth everything to him. His last words had proven that to meand they were forever written on my heart and in my mind:

"_I will always love you, no matter how bad things were, or how bad they become."_

All I could do now was mourn for the loss of our love, and for the love of all those Juunishi who had tried to break the curse before us.

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TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimers: I own it not.

Warnings: Angst, no character death.

Notes: Kyo's POV, regarding his feelings for Tohru.

Lasting Love

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Chapter Two: Remembering Times Lost

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We came back to the small house on the edge of the forest, Yuki disappearing up into his room, still inconsolable in his mourning, unable to bear the fact that we had just buried Haru.

I wandered into the kitchen, knowing I should get Yuki to eat something, while Shigure just shuffled off to his study. He had stopped writing, all his inspiration gone when she too was taken from us. The three of us lacked the will to do much of anything, all of us full of pity and woe for the losses we had suffered.

I took some soup up to Yuki, imploring him to eat before he wasted away to nothingness. He completely ignored me, huddled in the fetal position on the edge of his bed, sobs shaking his fragile frame. Haru's name streamed from his wet lips like a chant. I left, going up to my spot on the roof. All of us now have our alone places, where we are more alone than we could ever wish to be.

Seeing Yuki like that took me back a few months in time when I had also lost my love. I could have prevented it though. But how do you stop yourself from falling in love with someone as caring, generous and sweet as her?

At first, I resisted the idea of being in love with her. I hid my feelings behind angry masks. Angry that I did not understand why I felt this way. Angry that she would never feel the same way about me.

Then I could no longer hide away my heart behind the shields I had created. I confessed my love to her. She was surprised to say the least, but admitted to feeling the same way for the longest time. The only reason she hadn't said anything was because I seemed so indifferent to her feelings.

I quickly warmed up, my personality changing drastically, becoming nicer to everyone around me, including Yuki, and happier for the love that Tohru shared with me. It was the best time of my life. The kisses were sweet like her, yet passion-filled, sending shivers down my back each time our lips met. Thoughts of her, constantly filled my mind, distracting me in classes and giving me peaceful dreams at night. We enjoyed spending time together, being close to each other whenever it was possible. Most often we would sit up here on the roof, watching the sunset, making plans for the future, and basking in the glow of the love surrounding us. I felt like I would one day marry her, so great was our love.

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Two months. That was all the time we had together before I lost her.

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As it always is, it was entirely my fault. Then again when has something horrid that happened not been the fault of one of the Juunishi? Swallowing my fear, I had gone to Akito and told him of our love. That when we were old enough, I wanted to marry her. That I wanted to try and break the curse with her.

Akito had already been jealous of her, and her ability to make the members of the zodiac so happy and joyful, to the point where that jealously boiled into hatred. He demanded that we both be punished. He ordered an extremely reluctant Hatori-san to obliterate her memories of our love, the curse, and all the time she had lived with us.

Forcing Hatori to erase her memories of us was just as painful for the dragon as erasing Kana's had been. She no longer remembered her time with us. Seeing her afterwards had hurt more than anything. Not only had her memories of our secret been erased, but also her memories of our brief love were painfully eradicated from her mind.

Yuki and I still saw her at school, but we did not spend our lunch hours together, talking about the latest family member she had meet, or getting together with her and her freaky friends. If I said hello to her in the hall or in class, she would give me a strange look, as if wondering why I would be talking to her, then smile and return a greeting. It hurt so much every time she did that. It was another piece of my heart breaking off and shattering on the floor. Eventually, after a couple weeks of trying to reconnect with her, and rebuild our destroyed love, I gave up and never again spoke to her. It was almost a relief when we graduated a couple months later, knowing that I would never have to see her again. The guilt and self-blame rested heavily on me though. If only I had kept my shields up. If only I hadn't told her. If only she hadn't felt the same way. If only…

Too many If Onlys. It's too late to regret it now. But I could never regret the love we had experienced.

And so we three sit, mourning our double loss, reflecting on the short time spent with our loved ones and regretting past decisions. Most of all, hating Akito for all the torture he puts the cursed lovers through.

XXXXX To Be Continued XXXX


	3. Chapter 3

I don't even want to own it. Character death.

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Hatori tossed his glasses onto the papers littering his large desk and rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand. Sighing with remorse, he sat back, staring sightlessly out the window. In the past couple of months the family had been through so much pain and anguish. There was no reason to it, other than to placate the head of the Sohma family.

He thought it had been bad when he'd had to erase Kana's memories, but it had been even worse when he was forced to remove Tohru's memories because she and Kyo had fallen in love and wanted to break the curse that the members of the zodiac suffered. It should have been unnecessary for him to do that since she had already known their secret, but Akito had insisted that everything be erased. Her knowledge of their secret, her memories of the time she had lived with Shigure and the others, and most painful of all, her memories of the love that she and Kyo had shared.

It had hurt everyone to see him do that to her, nearly as much as it had hurt him he would guess, but he'd had to do it, or risk her life and his own. And while it was painful for both to remove her memories, he would rather she remember nothing of them, than lose her life just because she fell in love.

Hatori was jolted out of his reverie as the solid wood of the office door crashed open.

"Hatori! You must come! He's done it again!"

"What? Who is it?" The doctor snapped to attention at the mixed emotions present in the messenger's voice. Anxiety, fear, unease, and worry all clouded the speech. It was easy for him to determine that Akito had gone on a rampage again.

"Hatsuharu! Oh God! I think he's killed him!"

"Take me to him." He ordered, hiding his own fears and worries.

XXXXX HATORI'S POV XXXXX

I ran in the door and stopped, frozen in my tracks at the sight that greeted my experienced eyes. Nothing, in all the years I've been the doctor for this family, has prepared me for this. I have seen many horrible things in my profession, but this one is bound to top my list.

Yuki sat hunched in one corner of the large room, the body of his deceased lover held tightly to his chest. There was no doubt in my mind that he could still be alive. There was too much blood.

Crimson splattering the walls, running down and streaking the beige paint a dulled red. Large pools of the dark – death color soaked into the hardwood flooring. Bright red still dripped from Akito's knuckles from when he had punched the bleeding boy, whatever other weapon he had used would stink of the crime committed with it for years afterwards.

Yuki himself was coated in the life force the dear ox had spilled. His hands, his clothes, and when he looked up at my entrance, I could see streaks of it running down his face with the salty water of his tears.

Rushing over to the despairing rat, I loosened his death grip, a bad description if there ever was one, but apt all the same. Dropping onto my knees next to him, I took him into my arms, and he clutched at me as if I were his life preserver in his ocean of sadness. His sobs increased as his face was pressed hard into my shirtfront, tears dampening it with salt and more of the blood that no one could escape. I found myself making those odd shushing sounds as I held him. Why people do that to ones in distress is far beyond my reasoning, but it seems to always have a calming affect.

And once again the noises proved their helpfulness, and Yuki-kun was reduced to whimpers and moans in a few moments. It was then that I heard something that chilled me to the very marrow of my bones.

Laughter. Pure, unbridled laughter. The insanity behind it was barely covered, and clearly evident in word and action.

Akito's deep, full laughter assaulted my ears worse than any explosive could have. He actually found some sort of perverse pleasure in what he'd done. I stared up at him, shocked that he could do this and then feel no remorse for killing another member of his family; that he found it _amusing_.

I released Yuki and slowly go to my feet. I drew as close to the manical man as I dared. "Akito-sama, was this necessary? Did you have to take his life?" I asked, wondering if he would have some sort of an answer.

He stops laughing abruptly and looks at me. I wince at what I see in his eyes. Nothing. Absolutely empty wells of darkness, anger, hatred, loathing, all directed towards Haru, who shall now be just a memory, and disgust at me that I should care so damn much about what happens to the ones I love.

"Of course it was necessary, Hatori. They broke the rules. Disobeyed strict orders. I had to punish them. Especially that insolent ox. How dare he think he could love my precious Yuki! How dare he think that he could make him happy! They didn't deserve to be happy!"

"Yes they did! How can you do this and feel no remorse?" I was incredulous. Why did this have to happen!

"Easily!" He shouted, then dived to attack Yuki. I moved myself into his path, blocking Yuki from more harm that what he'd already been dealt.

"No!" I shouted, bracing myself, as Yuki cringed further into the shadows of the room. "Don't touch him!"

Three large guards stormed in at that moment, prying him from my clutches. They dragged him screaming and fighting back to his rooms, where they would restrain and possibly even sedate him. I would have to go to him later, but that was not my concern at the present moment.

Going back over to where the rat was huddled, I helped him to stand and leave the room. He paused at the door, and looked back at his lover's body laid out o n the floor. Tears filled his eyes again, and he quickly turned away, walking out into the hall. A few members of the family stood around, wanting to know what happened. I quickly explained to a couple people, and gave directions for the removal of his body.

Seeing that my orders were becoming actions, I guided Yuki away to my office. Sitting him down, I waited until he was calmed and had collected his thoughts before asking how everything had happened.

They had come to terms with the fact that they would have to tell Akito that they were in love. To the other members of the family who had been closer to the two, it had been quite apparent and we enjoyed watching the young love blossom. Of course everyone - including myself - knew it would be short-lived, but that disturbing thought had been pushed to the back of everyone's minds.

They knew that there would be some sort of a punishment, but thought that they could survive anything that Akito threw at them (literally), and that they would just keep their relationship a deeper secret afterwards. As Akito is known to do when he is told of the love his cursed family members have for each other, he became enraged. He blamed it entirely on Haru, saying that he had tainted his precious Yuki with his foul love. They argued verbally for a long time, Yuki defending Haru; Haru telling him that Yuki deserved to be loved by someone, someone better than Akito.

That had been the last straw. The man went into a wild rage; a fit of anger unlike any he'd had before. Snatching up a paperweight, he brought it crashing down onto the ox's skull. Haru fell to the floor, trying still to protect himself and Yuki as Akito grabbed up a penknife from the desk, brandishing the weapon wildly before slicing into Haru's arm, as it was crossed over his chest. Hiding his pain in rough grunts, showing his strength as best he could, he dragged himself upwards, standing defiantly before the 'leader' of the family.

"I won't let you hurt him. You can do whatever you want to me, but I'll _never_ let you hurt my love." Were his bold words before Akito struck him again, harder and with more force than previously. Falling again to the wood, the pain searing his head must have been blinding. He didn't have time to bring up a protective arm again, as this time Akito hit his mark, thrusting the small knife between his ribs.

Yuki himself had cried out, and attempted to stop further attacks by putting himself between the two men. Far beyond ever caring, Akito flung the small teen away, knocking him into a wall, leaving him seeing stars for a moment or two. When his vision cleared, the man had knocked Haru into unconsciousness, and now randomly attacked him, using the knife and his fists. Once more trying to save his lover, Yuki threw himself on top of the other teen, only to have the blade go through his shirt sleeve and into the heart still beating below it.

Withdrawing the knife, the dark man stepped back, the weapon now falling from his loosened grasp to clatter to the floor and spin to a stop a few feet away.

Horrified, Yuki turned to look at his beloved, blood freely flowing in streaming rivers around the lifeless body. Pressing his hand over the bleeding heart, he uselessly tried to staunch the flow. 'No. No. Not Haru.' Was all he could think. 'This should be me!' He hugged the other teen to his chest, sobs now shaking his lithe frame.

Which brings us to where I came running in, and led him away. My heart sank further and further as I listened to him explain everything. I did the only thing I could do for him at that moment. Gave him a couple sleeping pills and set him up on a futon in my office, so I could watch him and keep him safe.

Then I made a plan.

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Walking silently down the dark hallway, I made my way to Akito's rooms, under the guise that I was checking on him after his earlier 'activities'.

Entering the room like a shadow, blending in with the others already enshrouding it, I crept up to the bed. He was sleeping there, knocked out from whatever they had given him to stop the ranting and raving.

I slipped a hand into the pocket of my white doctors' coat that glowed eerily in the moonlight pouring through the un-shaded window. Removing it, I brought out the syringe I had brought along with me. Holding it up into the light shining through the window, I drew the serum into the tube and replaced the small bottle in my pocket. Flicking it experimentally to remove the air bubbles, I then pushed up his sleeve and slowly pushed the sharp needle into his wrist. It was nearly undetectable, and no one would even bother checking that thoroughly. If any member of the family cared enough to request that he have an autopsy, I would be the one to do it, and would simply proclaim it a heart attack. One as evil as he, it would be easy to believe that. Not that he has a heart. Or by now - had.

Satisfied with a job immensely well done, I left as silently as I had come. Going back to my office, I stood over Yuki-kun, watching as his chest rose and fell; the tears stopped only because of the freedom brought on by the drugs.

Turning away, I lay down on the couch in the opposite corner, waiting until they came to get me – to tell me what I already knew.

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The sun shone warmly on my face, the signal of a new day. A new beginning. Hope for the world that life would continue and proof that problems _do_ look better after a good night's sleep.

It was the same person from yesterday that came to shake me awake, loudly proclaiming:

"Hatori-san! Hatori-san! Hurry! Aktio is dead!"

I was up in seconds, and Yuki was sitting up in bed, the effects of the sleeping pills worn off as he came into full realization of the man's words.

"Akito's dead?" He asked, pain still lingering in his eyes, but now I could see a new emotion, hope.

"Yes! I saw his body myself when they discovered it. Looks like it could've been a heart attack, or just dropped dead from being so goddamn evil!" The messenger from the day before proclaimed.

"Hatori?" Yuki turned to me, looking for verification of the man's words.

"I'll go. I need to pronounce it anyway. Everything will be fine." I reassured him.

He just nodded, and I left, the messenger following behind.

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I did as I was expected to, checking for vitals, proclaiming him deceased, searching the body for any sort of outside markings, pleased to see that the needle mark I had made wasn't visible; and determined that he had most likely died of a heart attack. Everyone accepted this explanation, they were to glad he was gone to question means or methods.

I left them buzzing about how wonderful life would be without him, and wondering who the next head of the Sohma family would be. I had other matters to attend to at the moment.

Yuki glanced up as I came in. I knew without looking what he wanted to know, and told him that it was true. Akito was dead. We were free.

He broke into sobs again, relief, happiness, grief and sadness all staining the emotion of his tears. I went over to comfort him, offer reassurance that this all wasn't a dream, and that he would be able to be happy now.

"No. I can't be happy. Not without Haru." He told me.

"I think he would want you to be happy for him. Even without him, you know he would always want you to be happy."

He thought about that for a minute or two, while I got him a couple more sleeping pills. He took them gratefully, and settled back down to escape from the harsh reality for a few more hours.

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There were many things to do, and I was busy for much of the day. I phoned Shigure and Ayame, telling them what had happened the day before. They guessed that I had something to do with it, but I denied it and they had no proof. Still, I'm sure they know what really happened, but they will keep everything silent.

All the members of the Sohma family gathered in the afternoon. A funeral pyre had been erected and Akito's body was placed on top of it, as the priest lit the bottom of the structure, flames quickly engulfing it. Many of us thought it was just like seeing him burn in hell.

The buddist priest performed the funeral rites, and once the ceremony was over, we all departed. There were celebrations to be performed.

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The Juunishi had their own special celebration, almost like New Year's. Everyone came wearing the costume of their year, and partied like it was New Year's. Except this time they had more to be happy about.

Yuki was awake for the party, dressed not in his ceremonial robes, but a black kimono, showing that he was in mourning for different reasons.

Late in the celebration, about midnight, they called a halt to the festivities. It was time to announce the new head of the family.

"It has been decided that the new head of the Sohma family shall be Sohma Hatori-san."

I stood from my spot and walked to the centre of the room where they stood. Bowing formally to me, they presented me with the Sohma dagger, the symbol that was always kept safe by the head of the family.

Accepting it, I unsheathed it. It was truly a beautiful knife, the Sohma seal pressed into the hilt, the blade smooth and shining in the brilliant light of the room.

My family broke into cheers, and shouts of joy, recognizing that it was really true. That they had new hope.

And that hope was me.

XXXXX OWARI XXXXX


End file.
